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The return of the thermal power plant Antonio Guiteras to the National Electric System has not alleviated the energy crisis in Cuba. According to the official report from the Unión Eléctrica published this Friday, the system's availability at 06:00 hours is just 1,400 MW compared to a demand of 2,770 MW, with 1,375 MW affected at that time.
The situation will worsen with the night. During peak hours, a capacity of 1,400 MW is projected against a demand of 3,200 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,800 MW and an estimated impact of 1,830 MW.
The previous day was not better. The maximum impact on Thursday was 1,890 MW at 10:00 PM, surpassing what was planned due to the emergency shutdown of unit 1 of the CTE Santa Cruz and unit 3 of the CTE Renté.
La Guiteras —the largest generating plant in the country, with a nominal capacity of 250 MW— was reconnected to the national electricity system on Thursday at 7:48 AM, four days after being offline since May 24 due to a leak in the economizer.
But the relief was minimal. This Friday, the system has active breakdowns in unit 2 of the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez and units 3 and 5 of the CTE Antonio Maceo, while unit 5 of the CTE Mariel, unit 6 of the CTE Renté, and unit 5 of the CTE Nuevitas are under maintenance. The limitations in thermal generation leave 460 MW out of service.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks contributed 3,365 MWh with a maximum power of 526 MW during daylight hours, but their contribution disappears at night, precisely when demand reaches its peak.
So far in 2026, the Guiteras has experienced between nine and ten outages from the system. The pattern is repeated: breakdown, repair, reconnection, and new breakdown in a matter of days. On May 14, its outage due to a steam leak in the boiler coincided with a historic record deficit of 2,174 MW and the partial collapse of the system from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo.
The public reaction to the announcement of the plant's return was one of open skepticism. "Let's see how long the Piteras lasts," wrote a user on social media. Another summed up the general sentiment: "Fantastic, they resurrected the dead for a few days."
Rubén Campos Olmo, the general director of the Electric Union, acknowledged this week that Trump's executive order from January 29 —which prohibits the entry of fuel and lubricants to Cuba— had an impact he described as "devastating." According to Campos Olmo, "practically a capacity equivalent to 1,300-1,400 MW has been left without fuel support," which represents "more than 50% of what can be generated at night."
Distributed generation—batteries, fuel engines, diesel generators—that previously contributed between 700 and 800 MW daily disappeared from the system following the sanctions. A Russian donation of 100,000 tons of crude oil in early April allowed for a temporary improvement, but by the end of May, the system returned to critical levels.
The Minister of Energy, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted on May 14 that "Cuba is without fuel" and acknowledged power outages lasting 20 to 22 hours daily in some circuits of Havana. Approximately 2.7 million people are also experiencing issues with water supply as a direct consequence of the electrical deficit.
The deadline for foreign companies to cease their operations with GAESA —the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the Cuban economy— is on June 5, which could further exacerbate the regime's access to foreign currency and fuel.
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